The unexpected collection of my parent’s ashes from the crematorium opened the door to a new adventure in dealing my parents death that I personally found very liberating for my soul. It marked the beginning of a personal pilgrimage of faith I had no intention of taking, I thought I was dealing with my parents remains. As time passed I realized I had no choice but to take this path – this journey was the only way forward for me. Surprisingly for me it actually strengthened my faith in God and his ways as taught in the Christian faith and it’s hard to describe how. Once I committed myself to the task I had to take action. I plunged my hands into their ashes that first day even though for me it was like plunging my hands into my parent’s dead bodies. It was irksome and revolting to me the first time.

This book explores the Care Trust concept promoted by central government for improving partnership working between health and social care. Using case studies and examples to raise current issues related to partnership working it explains how Care Trusts are bridging the gap between health and social care and considers how they are delivering more co-ordinated services and improved outcomes. All healthcare and social care professionals with responsibility for involved in or affected by the new partnership working arrangements will find this book useful reading.

This book explores the Care Trust concept promoted by central government for improving partnership working between health and social care. Using case studies and examples to raise current issues related to partnership working it explains how Care Trusts are bridging the gap between health and social care and considers how they are delivering more co-ordinated services and improved outcomes. All healthcare and social care professionals with responsibility for involved in or affected by the new partnership working arrangements will find this book useful reading.

From Ira Byock, prominent palliative care physician and expert in end of life decisions, a lesson in Dying Well. Nobody should have to die in pain. Nobody should have to die alone. This is Ira Byock's dream, and he is dedicating his life to making it come true. Dying Well brings us to the homes and bedsides of families with whom Dr. Byock has worked, telling stories of love and reconciliation in the face of tragedy, pain, medical drama, and conflict. Through the true stories of patients, he shows us that a lot of important emotional work can be accomplished in the final months, weeks, and even days of life. It is a companion for families, showing them how to deal with doctors, how to talk to loved ones—and how to make the end of life as meaningful and enriching as the beginning. Ira Byock is also the author of The Best Care Possible: A Physician's Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life.

This is a zany romp through the modern American landscape, with the tour guide one Bingo Sherman, a possible descendant of the controversial Civil War general. Bingo, a joyous cross between Salinger’s Holden Caulfield and Kafka’s Joseph K attacks life with a zest that belies his Florida Panhandle origins. In this coming of age novel the action moves briefly from Miami’s South Beach to New York’s Upper West Side then back to South Beach again. Bingo is a seeker with a difference: he has absolutely no idea what he is seeking and knows only what he is not ready to settle for. The characters he encounters along the way serve to both open his eyes as well as to toughen him up for life’s many trials still ahead. Throughout the novel looms the almost mythical figure of Ronald McDonald, Bingo’s childhood hero for whom he still harbors a soft spot in his heart. Everyone Loves Ronald McDonald strikes just the right tone between irreverence and acute observation, and promises a rollicking good experience for anyone with common or even uncommon good sense.

In Bearing Witness, Courtney S. Campbell draws on his experience as a teacher, scholar, and a bioethics consultant to propose an innovative interpretation of the significance of religious values and traditions for bioethics and health care. The book offers a distinctive exposition of a covenantal ethic of gift–response–responsibility–transformation that informs a quest for meaning in the profound choices that patients, families, and professionals face in creating, sustaining, and ending life. Campbell’s account of “bearing witness” offers new understandings of formative ethical concepts, situates medicine as a calling and vocation rooted in concepts of healing, affirms professional commitments of presence for suffering and dying persons, and presents a prophetic critique of medical-assisted death. This book offers compelling critiques of secular models of medical professionalism and of individualistic assumptions that distort the physician-patient relationship. This innovative interpretation bears witness to the relevance of religious perspectives on an array of bioethical issues from new reproductive technologies to genetics to debates over end-of-life ethics and bears witness against the oddities of a market-oriented and consumerist vision of health care that is especially salient for an era of health-care reform.

At age 42, Barbara L. Gordon was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer. Two years later, it appeared that the cancer had metastasized. Along with her oncologist and other experts, Gordon has written the book that she wished she had as she faced late-stage breast cancer and the prospect of dying from the disease. Filled with information and advice, and designed to enable informed decisions and improved quality of life, this comprehensive guide gathers in one place authoritative medical information about recurrence and late-stage breast cancer, and it addresses the practical, emotional, spiritual, and interpersonal aspects of dying and death. This indispensable book aids those diagnosed with recurrent or late-stage breast cancer, those wanting to reduce the chance of a recurrence, and those with other types of late-stage cancer. It is also a valuable resource for healthcare professionals, friends, and family members. Topics covered include • Types of recurrence, their symptoms, and ways of minimizing the chance of a recurrence • Diagnostic tests, potential surgeries, and treatments to manage late-stage cancer • Getting the best care, evaluating complementary therapies, and alleviating pain and depression • Cessation of treatment and what one may experience as the disease progresses • End-of-life issues including dealing with financial and legal matters, communicating with loved ones and hospice workers, and planning memorial services Breast Cancer Recurrence and Advanced Disease includes a glossary of medical terms, appendices on nutrition and integrative health centers, and links to current Web sites addressing matters such as clinical trials, patients’ rights, and medical expenses.

Looking Forward is a short read with veins of gold, upbeat and written with humility. Most approaches to death planning are disease focused. Looking Forward applies to everyone in every situation. - Zail S. Berry, MD, PMH, Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Physician, Burlington, Vermont You put into words what many of us struggle to know how to approach, and you do so in a way that is practical and comforting. I will share this with many people. - Marilee J. Aronson, Licensed Clinical Psychiatrist, Washington, DC I absolutely love the format and tone of Looking Forward. By leading with your curiosity and with the questions that you asked yourself, you offer a warm invitation for readers to engage with death and planning for it. - Mike Young, Executive Director, Hope and A Home (retired), Washington, DC That was a beautiful read. Your words open a lot of important conversations. - Mark Gabel, UVM Health Center Hospice Volunteer, Colchester, Vermont. Our Couples Group appreciated Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. Your book seems like a natural follow-up. - Sally Dowling, Licensed Mental Health Counselor (retired), Gaithersburg, Maryland Is there such a thing as dying well? Can we prepare for that? Here are stories about the author’s quest for answers and the “saints” who offered help along the way.